The first in-development images of Yakuza 8 appeared in a recent office tour video, confirming the return of a few key characters. The video appeared on the YouTube channel of Japanese YouTuber and celebrity Mikuru Asakura, who visited the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio offices in order to discuss a cameo in the upcoming game. Additionally, the video showed how the company performed motion capture for its games. [Thanks, Famitsu!]
The video starts with Asakura meeting with the CEO of Sega Sammy Holdings, Haruki Satomi. After discussing whether Asakura would be interested in appearing as a cameo character, Yakuza 8 producer Masayoshi Yokoyama gave him a tour of the studio’s offices. Notably, the office tour offered fans a glimpse at the studio’s development process, from character modeling to motion capture.
Towards the beginning of the tour, we can see several developers working on environments, character animations, and event scenes. One event scene featured Yakuza: Like a Dragon protagonists Ichiban Kasuga, Koichi Adachi, and Yu Nanba. Yokoyama added that footage of the event scene had never been released to the public before. Interestingly, Kasuga appears to have a new hairstyle and is only wearing a tanktop.
You can check out the Yakuza 8 images in the video below (images appear around the 9:58 mark):
RGG Studio confirmed the development of a Yakuza: Like a Dragon sequel back in October 2021. In an interview, Yokoyama revealed that the sequel would take place several years after the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. News of the sequel’s development came after the departure of Yakuza series producer and studio head Toshihiro Nagoshi.
Yakuza 8 is in development. There is currently no confirmed release date or platform.
